


Morning Drops

by MiniNephthys



Category: End Roll (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 04:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8130892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: On the last day, Russell and Raymond play a game together.





	

Russell stares at the outside of the Cradle for a good few minutes before turning around.

There are only two places he can think of to go. Seaside is warped, Darcover Town is worse, Dragons’ Peak is a mess that he can’t fix no matter what he tries, and Cloakpoint… is Cloakpoint. The only safe places to visit outside of Nameless Town, the places that won’t make him feel worse, are the parts that aren’t natural to his dream.

He steps inside of Dreamsend Trade’s headquarters for the second time that day. There are still boxes everywhere, and he can’t tell if Raymond and Yue have made much progress packing. Probably not.

“Hey, buddy!” Raymond greets him with a smile. “You looking for something? We’ve still got some of our wares out if you need anything last minute.”

Russell shakes his head.

“...Did you need something else?” Yue asks.

“This is the last day of my dream,” Russell says. “You wouldn’t be packing if it wasn’t. So… the sooner I go into that monster’s nest, the sooner everything will be over.”

“That’s probably true,” Yue says. “Almost certainly true.”

“I don’t want it to be over yet,” says Russell. “Can we do something else first?”

Yue looks to Raymond, who sets down the box he’d been carrying. “Sure thing. You got anything in mind?”

“Not really,” Russell says.

“Weeell…” Raymond starts fishing around behind a shelf. “It just so happens that I was in Seaside yesterday, before everything went pear-shaped there. Where’d I put… aha!” He pulls out a full bottle of a liquid that resembles the coconut-flavored drinks they were selling in Seaside at the festival. “Got this on discount. What say you and me have a drink together before we go our separate ways, huh?”

Russell’s frown intensifies. “I don’t think fighting with a hangover is a good idea.”

“Come on, you wouldn’t have to drink that much! We’d just have a glass or two, maybe play some games…” Raymond rubs the back of his neck. “Actually, maybe playing drinking games in this dangerous of a dream isn’t my best idea after all.”

“I have something.” Yue reaches behind a different shelf and pulls out a bag full of wrapped chocolates, which she hands to Russell. “I was saving it for myself, but… you two can share it, if you need something to play games with. ...I’ll keep packing.”

Raymond grins. “Partner, you’re a real peach, you know that?”

She shakes her head. “After all this… I think you deserve at least something nice.”

Russell looks down at the bag of chocolates, remembering less than trustworthy sources of candy. Then he looks at Yue, and reminds himself that Raymond’s had his back for a while now, and is standing right there. “Thank you.”

Yue gives him the tiniest of smiles, and returns to work.

He sits on the floor with Raymond, and opens the bag of chocolates. “What game do you want to play?” he asks.

“Let’s see… How about ‘Never Have I Ever’?” Raymond says. “Normally I’d be at a disadvantage with a kid, but I’m pretty sure you’ve done a lot for your age.”

Russell nods. “Never have I ever… smoked a cigarette.”

Raymond unwraps a piece of chocolate. “With all those drugs?”

“I’ve done a couple other things,” Russell says. “Just not that. You’ll get cancer.”

“I’ll quit way before then,” Raymond says with confidence, and pops the chocolate in his mouth. After a moment to chew and think over his first move, he says, “Never have I ever stuck myself with a needle.”

Russell unwraps a chocolate. “We should probably avoid picking things we already know.”

“Yeah, good point,” Raymond says. “Otherwise this’ll be boring.”

After Russell finishes his chocolate, he says, “Never have I ever been on a date... with a guy.”

“...Just the one time… Maybe more than one time,” Raymond says, and eats a chocolate as quickly as he can without choking. “Never have I ever wanted to punch my body double in the face.”

Russell eats a chocolate without hesitation. When Raymond looks at him with an expression that says ‘well?’, he says, “He’s annoying. And smug. ...Never have I ever used dream powers for stuff not my job.”

Raymond hesitates. “Dream powers like…?”

“Like Fairia can teleport, and Walter can regulate space, and you can do that thing where you can heal us or pick up items randomly,” Russell says. “I don’t know all the things you can do.”

“Uh…” Raymond rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t have any powers like that in this dream, but my abilities depend on the kind of dream I end up in. There was this one time someone had a dream about superheroes, and I got invisibility powers, so…”

Russell’s expression doesn’t change. “You don’t have to say anything else.”

“Sorry, kiddo.” Raymond eats a chocolate. “Never have I ever… pet a cat.”

“Why not?” Russell asks, unwrapping another piece of candy.

“I’ve got allergies,” Raymond says, a bit sheepish. “Had to ask Walter to fix that up for me when you were in that shady Cattie warehouse. I wouldn’t look too cool if I was sneezing all over the merchandise, you know?”

The mental image almost makes Russell smile - almost. “You didn’t look cool anyway.”

“Oh, thanks...”

They trade off for a while - Raymond’s done a lot of things, and is a little worse at guessing what Russell’s done or not - until the bag is half empty, and Russell’s stomach is starting to protest eating that much chocolate in that short a span of time.

“I think we should stop,” Russell says. “I’m starting to feel sick.”

“That’s probably smart,” Raymond says. “So, uh, were you keeping track of who was winning? ‘Cause I wasn’t.”

Russell shakes his head.

“Wanna call it a draw?” Raymond asks.

Russell nods. Then, after a moment or two, he says, “Thanks. ...I feel a little less nervous now.”

There’s no reason he should, really. Outside of this room, everything is still falling apart, and it’s still all his fault. Guilt is crushing him from all sides.

But just now, he had one normal moment, a fun game that wasn’t tainted by past history with the person he played with or only meant to drag him down further. And that was... nice. Genuinely nice.

Raymond reaches over and ruffles his hair, and Russell lets him. “Hey, glad to hear it. Bring me along to your last showdown, alright? You don’t have to worry, I’ll make sure everything goes just fine.”


End file.
